Winding apparatus for waveguide prototype mould and waveguide manufacturing method

ABSTRACT

A wiring apparatus includes a substrate, two winding modules, and an axial wire dividing module. The two winding modules are disposed on the substrate. Each winding module includes a clamping mechanism with a chuck, a rotary mechanism having a rotation driving unit driving the chuck; and a reciprocating mechanism with a rail-slider assembly, the rotation driving unit connected to the slider. The axial wire dividing module is disposed on the substrate and located between the two winding modules with a wire supply channel provided with a wire inlet and a wire outlet. The wire outlet is provided with a cutter aligned with the center of the wire supply channel, and a cutting edge of the cutter faces the wire inlet; a waveguide prototype mould is formed by dividing a wire in real time and winding wires in grooves of a waveguide prototype.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a winding apparatus for a waveguide prototype mould and a waveguide manufacturing method, and in particular, to an apparatus and a method that make a wire thinner and smaller by using a real-time wire dividing technology, wind and fasten wires in grooves between convex teeth of a high-precision waveguide prototype, and then manufacture a waveguide by using the waveguide prototype.

2. Related Art

Waveguides (also referred to as corrugated horns) are main components for microwave transmission, and can be applied to communications industries in the fields of satellites and outer space; waveguides have military applications such as radar detection and communications, and also have industrial and civilian applications such as microwave ovens (heating, drying, and defrosting), microwave extraction (extraction, purification, and environmental decontamination), microwave radars (such as speed measurement, distance measurement, direction finding, height finding, and anti-collision), and communication (cell phone communication, WLAN, and satellite communication); waveguides can be applied to the rubber industry, food industry, pottery industry, ceramic industry, chemical industry, wood industry, paper industry, fiber industry, printing industry, and the like, and also have medical applications, for example, high-frequency waves generated are used to treat arthritis and relieve headaches as well as cancer and tumor pain, and the microwave hyperthermia is used for treatment of prostate cancer; waveguides are also applied in communication, GPS, and the like in scientific research and space exploration.

In a manufacturing method for a waveguide in the prior art, first, a silicon mold or wax mold is used to form a waveguide prototype having convex teeth and grooves on the surface; then, chemical conductive treatment is performed so that the surface of the waveguide prototype is conductive; after that, copper electrotyping treatment is performed so as to form a copper electrotyped layer on the surface of the waveguide prototype; subsequently, a waveguide structure is formed by means of heating and melting or linearly pulling out the waveguide prototype; and finally, gold is plated on the surface of the waveguide, to obtain a finished waveguide product.

As shown in FIG. 1, the number and the width-to-depth ratio of the periodic convex teeth 11 and grooves 12 on the surface of the waveguide prototype 10 are in direct proportion to wave guide efficiency of the waveguide prototype. However, in the foregoing procedures, it cannot be controlled that partial surface of the waveguide prototype 10 is conductive or non-conductive, and a uniform and stable electrotyped layer 13 cannot be formed between specific machined wall surfaces. Therefore, holes or splits are easily generated in the electrotyped layer 13, and consequently, the electrotyping quality cannot be controlled (as shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 3). Therefore, the foregoing procedures in the prior art cannot be applied to a waveguide (such as an antenna used for astro-observation) product having a convex teeth structure with high precision and a high depth-to-width ratio.

SUMMARY

An objective of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing apparatus capable of effectively controlling a growing direction of an electrotyped layer on a waveguide prototype, and a method for manufacturing a waveguide by using the apparatus.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides the following technical means: a winding apparatus for a waveguide prototype mould, which includes a pair of winding modules and an axial wire dividing module; each winding module has a clamping mechanism, and by using a rotary mechanism and a reciprocating mechanism, the clamping mechanism enables a waveguide prototype clamped by the clamping mechanism to rotate around a central axis thereof and axially reciprocate along the central axis; the axial wire dividing module is arranged in a manner of forming a triangle with the pair of winding modules, where the axial wire dividing module and the pair of winding modules are three vertices; the axial wire dividing module has a wire supply channel, and the wire supply channel has a wire inlet and a wire outlet; a cutter is disposed at the wire outlet, the cutter is aligned with the center of the wire supply channel, and a cutting edge of the cutter faces the wire inlet.

The achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides the following technical means: a waveguide manufacturing method, which includes the following steps: providing a waveguide prototype mould wound with non-conductive wires on bottom surfaces of grooves (for example, a waveguide prototype mould formed by winding wires in grooves of a waveguide prototype by using the foregoing wiring apparatus), where the waveguide prototype is made of an alloy material with a low melting point; performing anodizing treatment, so as to form a non-conductive oxide layer on surfaces of all convex teeth of the waveguide prototype; removing sub-wires in the grooves, to expose the conductive bottom surfaces of the grooves; performing a copper electrotyping procedure, so that a deposit copper electrotyped layer covers a surface of the waveguide prototype; performing a wet etching procedure, so as to remove the waveguide prototype to obtain a formed waveguide piece; and electroplating gold on a surface of the formed waveguide piece, so as to obtain a finished waveguide.

The present invention has the following features: because a growing direction of the electrotyped layer can be precisely controlled, the present invention is applicable to high-precision prototypes (of which the tolerance is less than minus or plus 1 μm). Because the waveguide prototype is made by precisely machining an alloy with a low melting point, the present invention does not need any additional conductive treatment. With non-conductive treatment on partial surface of the waveguide prototype of the present invention, the growing direction of the electrotyped layer can be effectively controlled; particularly, when the present invention is applied to elements with a high depth-to-width ratio, quality deficiencies such as splits or holes of the electrotyped layer are avoided. The waveguide prototype of the present invention is formed by precisely machining an alloy with a low melting point, and can be removed by means of a wet etching procedure, and therefore, is easy to demold and does not cause an adhesive residue problem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a waveguide prototype in the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional diagram of a copper electrotyped layer when a copper electrotyping procedure is performed on a waveguide prototype in the prior art;

FIG. 4A is a three-dimensional diagram of an embodiment of a winding apparatus for a waveguide prototype mould according to the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an embodiment of a winding module of a winding apparatus for a waveguide prototype mould according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 to FIG. 7 are actuation schematic diagrams of an embodiment of a rotary mechanism and a reciprocating mechanism of a winding module according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a sectional diagram of an embodiment of a rotary mechanism and a reciprocating mechanism of another winding module according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a top view of an embodiment of an axial wire dividing module according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a three-dimensional diagram of an embodiment of a diameter conversion ring of an axial wire dividing module according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a three-dimensional diagram of another embodiment of a diameter conversion ring of an axial wire dividing module according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a waveguide manufacturing method according to the present invention; and

FIG. 13 to FIG. 19 are a structural flow chart of an embodiment of a waveguide manufacturing method according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. All the accompanying drawings are simplified schematic figures, which merely describe the basic structure of the present invention in a schematic manner. Therefore, only elements related to the present invention are shown in the drawings, and the elements are not displayed according to the quantity, shape, or dimensional proportion during implementation. During practical implementation, there are options for design of the specifications, and the element arrangement may be more complex.

First, refer to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. This embodiment is a winding apparatus 20 for a waveguide (or referred to as corrugated horn) prototype mold 50; the waveguide prototype mould 50 is formed by treating a waveguide prototype 30 by the winding apparatus 20. The waveguide prototype 30 includes a rod body 31; a surface of the rod body 31 is periodically provided with radial convex teeth 32 which are arranged annularly along an axis direction of the rod body 31; a space defined by two adjacent convex teeth 32 and the surface of the rod body 31 forms a structure of a groove 33; the winding apparatus 20 includes a substrate 201, and a pair of winding modules 21 and an axial wire dividing module 22 that are disposed on the substrate 201. Referring to FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, each winding module 21 is provided with a clamping mechanism 211; the clamping mechanism 211 has a chuck 2111; by using a rotary mechanism 212 capable of controlling an actuation speed and a reciprocating mechanism 213, the clamping mechanism 211 enables the clamped waveguide prototype 30 to rotate around a central axis X (the central axis X may be the central axis of the clamping mechanism 211 and may also be the central axis of the waveguide prototype 30) and reciprocate along the central axis X. In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, the reciprocating mechanism 213 has a rail-slider assembly 2131 formed by assembling a slide rail 21312 and a slider 21311; a fixed plate 2132 is disposed on the substrate 201 at an end portion of the slide rail 21312; the fixed plate 2132 has a screw hole 21321; the rotary mechanism 212 has a rotation driving unit 2120 capable of controlling an actuation speed. The rotation driving unit 2120 includes a DC motor 2121 and a screw 2122 connected to a torque output shaft of the DC motor 2121. The DC motor 2121 of the rotary mechanism 212 is disposed on the slider 21311, and the screw 2122 is screwed in the fixed plate 2132 having the screw hole 21321, so that the screw 2122 of the rotary mechanism 212 drives the reciprocating mechanism 213 to move linearly while the screw 2122 is rotating. In practice, design of the mechanism capable of actuating the rotary mechanism 212 and the reciprocating mechanism 213 synchronously is not limited to the foregoing implementation manner. As shown in FIG. 8, in this embodiment, the fixed plate 2132 described in the foregoing embodiment does not need to be disposed, that is, the reciprocating mechanism 213 is not driven by the rotation driving unit 2120 by means of a linkage; instead, different driving forces are used to separately drive the rotary mechanism 212 and the reciprocating mechanism 213 (as shown in FIG. 8, the DC motor 2121 drives the chuck 2111 to rotate, and another stepping motor-screw assembly 2133 connected to the slider 2131 is used to move the slider 2131), so as to separately control a rotation angle of the chuck 2111 and a movement speed of the slider 2131.

The axial wire dividing module 22 is disposed on the substrate 201 and between the pair of winding modules 21; the axial wire dividing module 22 and the pair of winding modules 21 form a triangular arrangement (a preferable arrangement is an isosceles triangle or an equilateral triangle by using a line connecting the two winding modules as a base, but the present invention is not limited thereto). A main body 220 of the axial wire dividing module 22 has a wire supply channel 221, and the wire supply channel 221 has a wire inlet 2211 and a wire outlet 2212. A cutter 222 is disposed at the wire outlet 2212; the cutter 222 is aligned with the center of the wire supply channel 221, and a cutting edge 2221 of the cutter faces the wire inlet 2211. In practice, the cutter 222 may be connected to a cutter holder 2222; the cutter holder 222 is screwed on the main body 220 of the wiring apparatus 20, and the position of the cutter 222 can be adjusted by adjusting a rotation angle and a screw pitch by which the cutter holder 2222 is screwed into the main body 220, so that the cutter 222 is aligned with the center of the wire outlet 2212.

A combination relationship and an actuation manner of the foregoing apparatus in combination with the waveguide prototype 30 and an insulation wire 40 that can be cut along an axial direction are described as follows: the waveguide prototype 30 is separately clamped by two clamping mechanisms, and then the insulation wire 40 is supplied to the axial wire dividing module 22, so as to evenly divide the insulation wire 40 into two sub-wires 41 along an axial direction. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the wire 40 enters the wire supply channel 221 through the wire inlet 2211, and then is drawn out from the wire outlet 2212 of the wire supply channel 221. When passing through the cutting edge 2221 of the cutter 222 disposed at the center of the wire outlet 2212, the wire 40 is cut into two sub-wires 41 along an axial direction, and the two sub-wires 41 separately pass through two sides of the cutter 222. In addition, as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, to make the apparatus fit different wire diameters, a diameter conversion ring (223, 223′) may further be sleeved at the wire outlet 2212, where the diameter conversion ring (223, 223′) has an inner diameter (2231, 2231′) less than that of the wire outlet 2212. Generally, the diameter of the wire may be between 0.25 and 0.142 mm, and after the wire is cut, the diameter of the sub-wire is smaller than the width of the bottom surface 331 of the foregoing groove 33, and the sub-wire can be wound for one more round, to make sure that the sub-wire 41 can completely cover the bottom surface 331 of the groove 33. After that, each sub-wire 41 is guided to wind around the bottom surface 331 of the first groove 33 of the waveguide prototype 30 and fastened thereto; the winding module 21 drives the waveguide prototype 30 to rotate and move along an axial direction, so that the sub-wire 41 winds around the bottom surfaces 331 of the grooves 33 one by one, thereby forming a waveguide prototype mould 50.

Further, the reciprocating mechanism 213 and the rotary mechanism 212 may further be electrically connected to a movement control module 23 (such as a programmable control system), so as to provide a driving force for actuation of the reciprocating mechanism 213 and the rotary mechanism 212 and control an actuation speed of the reciprocating mechanism 213 and the rotary mechanism 212.

Further refer to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 to FIG. 19. A waveguide manufacturing method of this embodiment includes the following steps:

Step S10: Provide the foregoing waveguide prototype mould 50 (namely, the waveguide prototype 30 of which the surfaces of the grooves 33 are covered by the insulation wire 40, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14), where the waveguide prototype 30 is made of an alloy material with a low melting point, such as an aluminum alloy, and the waveguide prototype 30 may satisfy the astronomy-quality precision: the tolerance is less than minus or plus 1 ìm, and a depth-to-width ratio of the convex tooth 32 and the groove 33 is 3.5:1 ìm.

Step S20: Anodize the waveguide prototype mould 50, so as to form a non-conductive oxide layer on surfaces of the convex teeth 32, so that an electrotyped layer is not formed on these surfaces during subsequent electrotyping.

Step S30: Remove the sub-wires 41 in the grooves 33, to expose the conductive bottom surfaces 331 of the grooves 33, and at this time, partial surface of the waveguide prototype 30 is conductive (namely, as shown in FIG. 15, surfaces of the convex teeth 32 are non-conductive, and bottom surfaces of the grooves 33 are conductive).

Step S40: Perform a copper electrotyping procedure on the waveguide prototype 30, so that a deposit copper electrotyped layer C evenly grows from the bottom surfaces of the grooves groove 33 until the deposit copper electrotyped layer covers the convex teeth 32 and a surface of the entire waveguide prototype 30, as shown in FIG. 16 to FIG. 18.

Step S50: Perform a wet etching procedure, to remove the waveguide prototype 30 to obtain a formed waveguide piece 60, as shown in FIG. 19.

Step S60: Electroplate a layer of gold on an inner surface and an outer surface of the formed waveguide piece 60, to form a finished waveguide product.

In the foregoing procedures, because the waveguide prototype is made of an alloy material with a low melting point, pretreatment, namely, surface conductive treatment, does not need to be performed on the waveguide prototype, and when the waveguide prototype is removed in a subsequent wet etching procedure, the temperature can be controlled so that only aluminum is etched while the electrotyped copper is not affected. In addition, due to the metal material used, the present invention can use high-precision machining so as to improve a depth-to-width ratio of the convex tooth and the groove; moreover, in the present invention, wires are wound around the grooves in real time after the cutting along an axial direction and are fastened to the grooves. Therefore, the present invention is applicable to high-precision products having a groove width equal to half of a minimum wire diameter currently available, and is particularly applicable to astronomy-quality related antenna products.

In summary, described are merely preferred implementation manners or embodiments of the present invention for illustrating the technical means used to solve the problems, and the preferred implementation manners or embodiments are not intended to limit the patent implementation scope of the present invention. Any equivalent change and modification consistent with the meaning of the patent application scope of the present invention or made according to the patent scope of the present invention shall fall within the patent scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A winding apparatus for a waveguide prototype mould, comprising: a substrate; a pair of winding modules, comprising winding modules that are disposed on the substrate at an interval, wherein each winding module comprises a clamping mechanism, a rotary mechanism, and a reciprocating mechanism; the clamping mechanism has a chuck used for placing a waveguide prototype; the rotary mechanism has a rotation driving unit capable of controlling an actuation speed, and the rotation driving unit drives the chuck by means of a linkage; the reciprocating mechanism comprises a rail-slider assembly comprising a slide rail and a slider, and the rotation driving unit is connected to the slider; and an axial wire dividing module, disposed on the substrate and located between the pair of winding modules, wherein the axial wire dividing module has a wire supply channel, the wire supply channel has a wire inlet and a wire outlet, a cutter is disposed at the wire outlet, the cutter is aligned with the center of the wire supply channel, and a cutting edge of the cutter faces the wire inlet.
 2. The winding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a fixed plate is disposed at an end portion of the slide rail of each winding module, and the fixed plate has a screw hole; the rotation driving unit comprises a DC motor and a screw connected to a torque output shaft of the DC motor; the screw is screwed into a screw hole of the fixed plate; the chuck is axially disposed at an end portion of the screw; the DC motor is disposed on the slider, so that when the rotation driving unit is actuated, the reciprocating mechanism is also capable of moving linearly.
 3. The winding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reciprocating mechanism and the rotary mechanism are electrically connected to a movement control module, so as to control an actuation speed of the reciprocating mechanism and the rotary mechanism.
 4. The winding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the reciprocating mechanism and the rotary mechanism are electrically connected to a movement control module, so as to control an actuation speed of the reciprocating mechanism and the rotary mechanism.
 5. The winding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a diameter conversion ring sleeved at the wire outlet, and the diameter conversion ring has an inner diameter.
 6. The winding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the axial wire dividing module has an equal distance to each winding module.
 7. A waveguide manufacturing method, comprising the following steps: providing the waveguide prototype mould formed by using the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the waveguide prototype mould comprises a rod body, a surface of the rod body is provided with convex teeth that are annularly arranged along an axial direction, two adjacent convex teeth and the surface of the rod body form a groove, and a sub-wire is wound on a bottom surface of the groove; anodizing the waveguide prototype mould, so as to form a non-conductive oxide layer on surfaces of the convex teeth of the waveguide prototype mould; removing the sub-wires in the grooves, to expose the conductive bottom surfaces of the grooves; performing a copper electrotyping procedure, so that a deposit copper electrotyped layer grows evenly from the bottom surfaces of the grooves until the copper electrotyped layer covers the convex teeth; performing a wet etching procedure to remove the waveguide prototype, so as to obtain a formed waveguide piece; and electroplating gold on a surface of the formed waveguide piece, to obtain a finished waveguide.
 8. The manufacturing method according to claim 7, wherein the waveguide prototype mould is made of an alloy material with a low melting point.
 9. The manufacturing method according to claim 8, wherein the waveguide prototype is made of an aluminum alloy.
 10. The manufacturing method according to claim 8, wherein precision of the waveguide prototype is that the tolerance is less than minus or plus 1 μm.
 11. The manufacturing method according to claim 10, wherein the sub-wire has a diameter of 0.25 to 0.142 mm.
 12. The manufacturing method according to claim 11, wherein the convex tooth and the groove has a depth-to-width ratio of 3.5:1 μm.
 13. A waveguide manufacturing method, comprising the following steps: providing the waveguide prototype mould formed by using the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the waveguide prototype mould comprises a rod body, a surface of the rod body is provided with convex teeth that are annularly arranged along an axial direction, two adjacent convex teeth and the surface of the rod body form a groove, and a sub-wire is wound on a bottom surface of the groove; anodizing the waveguide prototype mould, so as to form a non-conductive oxide layer on surfaces of the convex teeth of the waveguide prototype mould; removing the sub-wires in the grooves, to expose the conductive bottom surfaces of the grooves; performing a copper electrotyping procedure, so that a deposit copper electrotyped layer grows evenly from the bottom surfaces of the grooves until the copper electrotyped layer covers the convex teeth; performing a wet etching procedure to remove the waveguide prototype, so as to obtain a formed waveguide piece; and electroplating gold on a surface of the formed waveguide piece, to obtain a finished waveguide.
 14. The manufacturing method according to claim 13, wherein the waveguide prototype mould is made of an alloy material with a low melting point.
 15. The manufacturing method according to claim 14, wherein the waveguide prototype is made of an aluminum alloy.
 16. The manufacturing method according to claim 14, wherein precision of the waveguide prototype is that the tolerance is less than minus or plus 1 μm.
 17. The manufacturing method according to claim 16, wherein the sub-wire has a diameter of 0.25 to 0.142 mm
 18. The manufacturing method according to claim 17, wherein the convex tooth and the groove has a depth-to-width ratio of 3.5:1 μm. 